"A lot of people come to Raval and say, Where are the seats? Why is everyone standing?" That's Grant van Gameren in Toronto Life this month, explaining why the room behind his tapas bar, where most guests stand, is now a white-tablecloth Spanish restaurant. Casa Rubia opened at 293 Palmerston Ave. on Thursday, September 24, and its premise is simple. On a block known for drinking on your feet, this is the room where you sit down and stay.
That premise is newer than the building. The address has had many uses over the past two decades. Casa Rubia is the first one designed as the seated half of an evening that starts next door.
A Garage With a Long Guest List
Most people on Palmerston can name the last tenant or two. The full sequence explains why this latest change matters more than the ones before it.
- Mid-2000s, Octopus Lounge. In 2005, NOW Magazine described a "split-level garage just south of College" with DJs playing classic soul, deep house and disco from Thursday to Saturday. There was no cover, and the lineup was long enough that arriving early was the only reliable way in.
- 2010, Woodlot. The restaurant that made the address a dining destination opened in 2010, according to blogTO. It reopened with a new culinary team in January 2020, according to Streets of Toronto.
- August 2020, Woodlot closes. blogTO reported the closure after a decade on the corner.
- 2020 to November 2023, Harry's Charbroiled. Van Gameren's burger joint ran here until it moved to Coxwell, according to a May 2024 restaurant roundup by Stephanie Dickison.
- May 2024, Martine's Wine Bar. Hailey Burke and van Gameren opened a cozy wine and cocktail spot with Chef Luke Haines in the kitchen.
- September 24, 2026, Casa Rubia. The same owners, now joined by chef and partner Zach Smith, turned the room into a Northern Spanish restaurant.
Since 2020 the room has had a single owner group, and that group has reworked it three times in about six years. A burger counter became a wine bar, and the wine bar has now become a full-service dining room. Each version moved the room further from a quick stop and closer to the kind of meal Bar Raval was never set up to serve.
Why the Same Owners Kept Rebuilding It
Martine's had a good run. blogTO called it one of the city's favourite date-night spots and said it rose to the top of must-visit lists almost as soon as it opened. So the change wasn't a rescue. As Toronto Life tells it, the owners thought the space and the team "had more potential."
The timing came down to people. Smith had left Bar Raval to open Fat Rabbit in St. Catharines, then came back to Toronto as Raval's executive chef and co-owner. Van Gameren had spent the pandemic in Prince Edward County and was ready to return to Toronto, according to the same Toronto Life piece. With both of them back on the block, the room behind Raval became the obvious place to answer the question Raval's guests kept asking.
Octopus Lounge and Woodlot were each their own destination. Casa Rubia was planned with its neighbour in mind, as a place "where people could sit and linger a while longer," in Toronto Life's words.
Tablecloths, Without the Ceremony
White tablecloths on a residential side street could suggest something stiff. Van Gameren pushed back on that in Toronto Life: "In Europe, tablecloths are at casual restaurants too. It doesn't mean fancy, high-end or expensive; it's hospitality."
The room supports that. blogTO reported that Casa Rubia keeps the rustic feel Martine's was known for, now in oxblood and cream, with salvaged pine and plaster meant to recall old-world restaurants. Tastet describes service built around full tables, giving guests a proper seat for the whole evening instead of Bar Raval's mix of standing room and perches. Toronto Life puts capacity at 50, split between the mezzanine dining room and a downstairs bar with counter seating, plus a 20-seat patio out front in summer. The split-level garage NOW wrote about in 2005 still shapes how the room works.
The drinks list is built for staying, too. It has a sobremesa section, named for the Spanish habit of lingering at the table after dinner, with vermut, amari, eau de vie and Iberian whiskies. Burke told blogTO she wants a guest to be able to "start with a Martini, move into Spanish wine during dinner, have vermouth somewhere in between and finish with a digestif."
What a Long Dinner Costs Here
At Bar Raval you graze. At Casa Rubia the plates get bigger as the menu goes on. It starts with drinking food like pan con rubia, Iberian chorizo and boquerones. Then come fideos with cockles, suckling pig, charred octopus, grilled king prawns and Rubia Gallega beef, the Galician cattle breed the restaurant is named for. Here are some of the prices Toronto Life printed in its October 20 feature:
| Dish or drink | Price |
|---|---|
| Judiones with creamy, spicy spinach | $24 |
| Judiones topped with smoked sweetbreads | $42 |
| Crab sofrito with lágrimas ribs | $34 |
| Chorizo and morcilla stew with chickpeas and tripe | $42 |
| Bone marrow with scallops and uni butter | $58 |
| Galician strip loin with shishito peppers | $90 |
| House martini | $24 |
| White negroni, sidecar | $20 each |
The beans show how the kitchen thinks about value. Van Gameren told Toronto Life the judiones come from a small town in Navarra and cost about $20 a jar, and they go out as a $24 side. The chorizo comes from La Cultura Salami in Belleville. "It's expensive to eat out now," van Gameren said in the same piece, describing the bone marrow as the kitchen's attempt at "something a little bit theatrical."
For a full evening, Foodism's October 22 review puts dinner and drinks for two at about $200 before tax and tip. It points to the marinated mussels, the suckling pig and the Galician ribeye. Diners on the restaurant's OpenTable page split on whether the portions justify the price. One said they would come back for drinks and dessert, and another said the cooking was worth it. For neighbours, that points to two ways to use the room. You can book a full dinner, or you can come for a martini and the sobremesa list.
Getting a Table on the Corner
- Hours: Dinner every night, 5 to 10 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and 5 to 11 p.m. on Friday and Saturday, according to Casa Rubia's info page.
- Booking: Reservations run through OpenTable via the restaurant's own site. You can choose the Dining Room, the Chef Bar or the High Tops.
- Access: Toronto Life notes one step at the entrance and a bathroom down a small flight of stairs.
- Early ratings: OpenTable showed 4.6 out of 5 from 20 reviews in the restaurant's first month.
The Chef Bar is the closest thing to Raval's counter energy. It still gives you a stool for the whole meal.
A Seated Evening Around the Block This November
A 5 p.m. opening time makes it easy to build an evening around a dinner reservation without leaving the neighbourhood. On Saturday, November 7, Palmerston Library hosts "Doubles: A Panel Talk About the Film, Diversity & Indo-Caribbean Voices" from 2 to 4 p.m. That ends with time for a walk down Palmerston before the Casa Rubia dining room opens.
The following Wednesday, November 11, the Royal screens MagicLand, with doors at 7:30 p.m., the film at 8 p.m. and a 90-minute runtime. A 5 p.m. table at Casa Rubia leaves room for a few plates and a sherry martini before the walk to College Street. Save the sobremesa for another night, when nothing else is booked.
If you're thinking about what a new destination restaurant like Casa Rubia means for your own corner of Palmerston–Little Italy, Catherine Mortimer follows these blocks closely and would be happy to talk it through. Request a personalized market plan, and we'll start with the streets you already know best.
